FIC: Hostile Takeover - 2/18
Shatterstar sniffed and turned away from the smoldering pile of fur that used to be Feral. Rictor and Terry were quite a few feet away from the cat-like girl, and hopefully that had given them an advantage for survival. The warrior knelt down next to his friend and turned him over.
“Julio?”
The Mexican’s supply bag was still smoking and he had very large rips in his clothes, exposing a thigh, his stomach, and most of his back. The warrior worked on taking off anything metal Ric might have had on -- his belt, a few chains hanging off his pants, his watch, and a few other accessories -- already the heat had caused harsh burns from the conduction. The smaller man also had a few nasty gashes on his flesh, as well as a couple of second degree burns on his chest and neck. He was very badly injured, but still very much alive.
At that point that was all that mattered.
“Shatty?!” Bobby called from a few feet away. He was helping a conscious Terry to her feet. “Is Ric…?”
“We must get him out of here now.”
Roberto nodded and jogged over to them. “I’ll take him. I need you to fight in case those assholes come back, okay?”
'Star nodded and looked over at Terry. “How badly injured is she?”
“A concussion, at least,” Roberto rushed as he threw Rictor over his shoulder and collected all of the supply bags they had left. “Maybe a broken wrist. She’s got burns everywhere.”
'Star nodded and unsheathed his sword. Terry stumbled through the snow a bit, and the warrior frowned. “Are you able to use your abilities or fly at all, Siryn? The agents are very close now, I can hear them.”
“Aye, I…uh…” she squinted her eyes and grabbed at her head. “Lordy, Shatty, what the hell hit me?”
“Fekt,” 'Star muttered as he watched Roberto fly off. “We need to move now, woman!”
She nodded and stumbled a bit further, tugging on her torn clothes as she did so. The roar of the engines came closer, and Shatterstar knew the agents would be making their appearance any moment. He looked at his sword, and at Siryn, then back over his shoulder to the direction of the vehicles. He could not see them, but the minute he heard a door slam shut his mind was made up.
In a split second the sword was sheathed and Terry was hoisted up into the warrior’s arms. Using a speed that he saved only for battle, Shatterstar took off in a run, following Sunspot’s lead. He could still see the other mutant flying up ahead, and it was not long before Shatty’s superhuman strength and endurance helped him catch up. Terry was moaning almost incoherently in his arms, and her eyes were glossed over.
She definitely had a head injury. And even though Shatty would never normally run from an impending battle, he had to get her to safety. It would be most dishonourable to let another teammate die on his watch.
A gunshot rang out in the distance, and suddenly the Cadre warrior found himself falling forward and face first into the snow. Awkwardly, he tried to not squish Terry and he had to thank his creators for making him hollow boned. He shook his head and looked down, noting that the bullet had only hit him in the ankle area. Shrugging, he got back to his feet and carried Terry off again.
“Holy shit! Are you okay?” Roberto called.
“I just got shot,” Shatty grunted uncomfortably, limping until his healing kicked in. “I'll be fine.”
“Aye, 'Star put me down if'n ye have to,” Terry groaned.
“Nonsense, you cannot walk,” he muttered and began to pick up his pace again as he regenerated the injury. His heightened hearing picked up the men giving chase, but he and Bobby were much faster and getting a good lead on them. “Sunspot!”
“What’s up?” he called, not taking the time to look back.
“Find us shelter immediately. We must lose them soon or fight! They are gaining on us!”
Roberto nodded and flew a few more feet before quickly landing. 'Star picked up his pace and chased him, until he got to the bottom of a hill. There was a decent sized den hole -- probably formerly belonging to a larger pack of animals like wolves, or something similar -- and Roberto shoved Rictor’s body inside along with their bags. “Stick her in there with him.”
Shatty nodded quickly, and did just that. Terry blinked a few times. “What are ye--?”
“Stay here, we’ll be back,” Bobby promised her. “Keep pressed really tight to Ric so you keep him warm, okay? He’s really sick.”
“A’right,” she muttered and wrapped her arms around him carefully. Sunspot nodded at the warrior as Shatty unsheathed his sword, and the two boys took off in a run back up the hill. A newfound anger sparked in the Brazilian’s eyes, and Shatty knew the look well. His friend was thirsting for revenge. Revenge for the loss of his love and all of the horror the agents had unleashed upon their team and friends in the last week or so.
This small group was not the entire organization, but there were enough bodies to at least give them some sense of pleasure as they slaughtered them.
Once they reached the clearing between the trees, Bobby propelled himself up into the sky with a roar; his hands glowed a brilliant shade of yellow and he unleashed a massive solar concussive blast at the first front line of attackers. Many soldiers flew back from the impact, and the ones who did not were left blinded from the great light. Shatterstar took the opportunity to strike while they were distracted. The big man propelled himself into the air and flipped behind their backs, unleashing two swords at them in one long, swift motion. Instantly five men were left without their heads, and two more were cut up through their thoracic regions.
And Bobby was just as quick to return to the assault. The charged up mutant swan dived to the ground from the air with his fists out, colliding with the face of one larger man. A loud cracking noise echoed throughout the forest and the man crumpled to the ground. In less than two minutes the boys had collected a pile of bodies around them, and only two more remained standing.
They stood approximately twenty feet away with AK47s pointed at the two mutants. Clad in emerald green suits, flak vests, combat helmets, and combat boots, they looked the same as every other soldier of their kind. There was only one vital difference.
These ones were terrified.
Shatty tightened his hold on his swords and grunted as he stared them down, and he could feel the rage rolling off of Sunspot from where he stood.
“Step down, muties!” the lead man yelled, one fist clenched in the air. “We’ve got you surrounded! All of your peers have been apprehended!”
“You lie!” Roberto yelled. “You killed them!”
“They have been apprehended and taken into custody. Step down before we take action. This is your final warning.”
Roberto growled and leaned closer to 'Star. “I'm ready to throw your ass at them.”
“So do it,” Shatty replied.
“Where are they then, huh? And why the hell is Xavier’s Institute destroyed if you only apprehended them? We saw bodies!”
“Warnings were not followed. Precautionary measures were taken, now get on the ground!” the other one screamed, not as nearly as patient. “Get on the motherfucking ground now!”
The very second the man’s partner lifted his radio from his belt, Sunspot made his move. One hand clasped onto Shatty’s belt, and the other grabbed the collar of his top, and in one fluid motion -- and with all the strength he could muster-- Roberto sent 'Star flying through the air with his swords out. The men did not even have time to stumble back either. Guns dropped to the ground, and the radio smashed to pieces on the rocks below.
And two long Mojoworld metal blades impaled both of their chests sternum first as 'Star landed in front of them. The warrior tightened his hold and lifted the blades up, throwing both bodies savagely over his shoulders and off the tips of his swords. They landed with a soft thud behind him.
“Let’s go,” he murmured to Roberto, who had slowly approached. Sunspot clenched his fists at his sides and squeezed his eyes shut as he stood over the men. For a moment Shatterstar was unsure of what he should do; the Brazilian looked extremely pained, and the warrior knew it had everything to do with Magma. Hesitantly, he lifted a hand and was about to place it on Bobby’s shoulder in a soldier’s clasp, but the teen went off. Fire surrounded his fists and he sent a massive blast towards the military cars, causing an explosion to rock the forest. Shatty’s eyes widened and he tackled the man to the ground.
“Are you stupid!? You will give away our location!”
Roberto struggled and threw the warrior off of him. “I know! Okay! I know…”
“I’m sorry,” Shatterstar pulled himself to his knees and held out a hand to the Brazilian. The younger man took it, and the alien helped him to his feet. Bobby’s chin trembled, but he was able to keep himself from crying. He would not give their attackers such satisfaction, but his grief was visible in all of his body’s movements -- and Shatterstar would not bother him about it.
In silence, they quickly turned away and headed back to their friends. As much as they would have liked to go back for the bodies of their comrades, they could not. With a number of agents dead in the location, it would only be a matter of time before the rest came looking for them.
When they got to the bottom of the hill, Terry and Rictor were in the exact position they had been left in. Without even a word, Roberto grabbed their supply bags and shouldered them, before collecting Ric as well. Terry blinked and looked back and forth between the boys. “What happened? I heard an explosion.”
“We'll explain later,” Shatty replied and hoisted her out of the hiding place. She protested loudly at the sudden movement, but the warrior ignored it. They needed to leave the area immediately.
So Roberto shot up into the sky, and once again Shatterstar took off in a run to follow him.
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It had taken them nearly two hours to reach Lake Michikan. Rictor was still unconscious and Terry had been able to fly the last half hour. The shore was frozen over, but there was still a current that broke off ice chunks. Roberto had spotted a fairly large cave at the northwest tip near the run off and, one dead bear later, they were settled inside.
Roberto held the Mexican out in front of him as he waited for Shatterstar to find some blanket rolls in their supply bags. The warrior stretched one out on the ground, and Roberto placed Rictor down. Instantly they began to work away at him.
“What happened again?” Terry asked. “Everythin’ seems so hazy.”
“We’re not sure,” Bobby explained. “We were receiving communications from you until we heard a blast. When we got to you there were no agents on site, so whatever it was that hit you guys was either a trap or something entirely different.”
Shatterstar stopped listening then as he began to cut off the remains of Rictor’s shirt. Some pieces had been melted onto him during the explosion, so he had to be careful to not pull or tug on them at all. Once he cut all the loose fabric away, he dug around in the bag for some saline solution. They didn’t have much to work with, but thankfully Cable had always demanded they be prepared for survival.
And fortunately for the remaining members of the two squads, the Cadre warrior had been force fed great knowledge of anatomy and survival techniques in order to be successful in battle and for performance purposes.
“Holy fuck,” Roberto muttered. “Look at those burns.”
“We must keep them from getting infected,” Shatty replied, as he washed them down with the solution. “That's the most important thing. He'll most likely wake up soon, but any infection would be able to kill him. We do not have remedies for such a thing.”
“Aye, if there’s one thing I can’t stand it's burns,” Terry said as she painfully scrunched up her face. “I dinnae want tah even go near a mirror right now because of it.”
Roberto snorted as he began collecting the sterile pads from the bag. “Well you better toughen up, chica, because you’re next after Ric’s done.”
“I’m nae that bad, am I?”
“Bad enough,” 'Star eyed her. “I need to stitch him up, Sunspot.”
“He’ll kill you,” Roberto told him seriously.
“Which is why I do it when he is not awake,” 'Star rolled his eyes. “He does not like needles, so we need to move quickly. His bleeding is quite heavy.”
“We can’t just put a bandaid on it?” he asked with a frown.
“We can on the others, but not this one,” the warrior pointed to a five inch gash across the Mexican’s ribcage. “The edges of his flesh are far too frayed for that; it would take days for it to heal.”
“Boy what I wouldn’t do for Beast to be here right now,” Terry murmured.
Roberto looked up at Shatty with sad eyes before clearing his throat. “Yeah, well that’s not an option anymore, Terry. This is the best we can do and we gotta make do with it, right? ‘Sides, 'Star seems to know what he is doing.”
“I would not let him die,” Shatty snapped. “I would not even risk Julio’s life. If I was not sure, I would not bother.”
“I believe you,” Siryn told him. She then turned away and covered her eyes when 'Star began to poke through the Mexican’s newly cleaned flesh with the sutures. He would only need a few; not as nearly as bad as after some of the missions X-Force had been on in the past, but the procedure was still risky. 'Star knew he would have to keep a very close eye on it and keep Julio washed down and as clean as possible, for infection was high risk for sutures as well. However in this case it was either risk the infection or have him die from blood loss -- and 'Star wasn’t particularly thrilled about either option.
Once the Mexican’s chest as bandaged, stitched, and thoroughly cleaned, the warrior looked at Sunspot. “We have to remove his pants.”
“He’ll freeze!”
“His clothes are already wet,” 'Star pointed out. “And judged on his thigh alone there are more burns. We have to.”
Roberto sighed. “Anyone pack an extra sweater?”
“My coat is in the bag,” 'Star offered.
“Why aren’t ye wearing it?” Siryn eyed him suspiciously. “Aren’t ye cold, lad?”
“Temperature is not much of an issue for me because of my home world. Besides, it is much too constricting for proper battle,” he snapped as he unfolded a blanket and tucked it under Rictor’s chin. “And you shouldn't watch me remove his clothes. I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate it.”
The girl’s eyes widened, but she nodded anyways. “Fine, I need to clean up anyways…”
“Do you need help?” Roberto asked hesitantly. “I watched what he did with Ric and I can give you a hand.”
“Sure,” she mumbled, and Sunspot took a bag with him as he stepped away from 'Star and the Mexican. The warrior stared down at his best friend’s face and frowned; he was happy that the men responsible for this mess had been killed by his blade -- at least some of them. Julio was in very bad shape, and Shatty knew that he would have to keep an eye on him all hours of the day and night at this point. He did not want to admit it to the others, but Rictor was going to be very touch and go.
He cut away the denim from around his legs so that the Mexican only wore his boxer shorts; it wasn’t much but it was at least enough for modesty purposes. His left leg had a nasty burn, and his right ankle appeared to be abnormally swollen. It would at least need to be splinted and iced, and thankfully the latter would not be an issue due to their location.
But the burn on his thigh and knee was the worst. Pieces of his clothing were melted into the flesh and there was already blisters forming on it. The biggest concern however was the fact that the burn was being exposed to the near freezing air, and hypothermia would be a possibility if Julio was not thoroughly heated. Sunspot would have to start a fire the exact moment he was done with Theresa.
Silver eyes trailed up Ric’s body and settled on his face one more time; the cuts and scrapes there were nasty as well, and add that with the nasty burn on his neck, 'Star knew that Julio was not going to be happy about his appearance.
But that was the least of his priorities right now.
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It had taken them nearly an hour to get both of their teammates cleaned up and warm. Terry’s clothes were salvageable from the blast, and she was wrapped in a blanket as they worked on getting them sewn up. Rictor, however, had been a dilemma because his clothing had been cut away to avoid tearing the burns. Thankfully Shatty gave him his jacket and they had been equipped with one pair of flame retardant/shock prevention combat pants. They were massive on the smaller man, but they would have to make do to keep him warm.
Terry shivered and inched closer to the fire they had built. “So do ye boys have a plan?”
“No,” Roberto sighed as he folded her pants for her. “Me and Shatty left quite a mess and if we go out there-- there’s a very good chance we’ll get found.”
“But we cannae stay here! We need tah get t' a hospital.”
“There are none for many miles,” Shatterstar muttered. “We are in the middle of a rural native aboriginal reservation, and if their people have not been evacuated already, there is not a good chance they would take us in anyways.” He tied off the last seam on her sweater and handed it off to her. “We are best to stay here until we get further directions from Cable or Domino, or we attack. But highly doubt you or Rictor would be very successful doing that.”
“But…” Terry swallowed and took her clothes back, slowly changing into them under her blanket. “We do nae have the resources tah stay out here. We need more food, and…”
“I can catch us food,” 'Star said simply. “And we do have some left in the bag. Toiletries are absent, unfortunately, so we’ll have to do without. The fire will provide us heat so long as Sunspot can keep it going. The only issue is our sleeping arrangements.”
“Well I think its fair that the blankets stay on Ric…” Roberto trailed off.
'Star shook his head. “I’m not referring to warmth, maintaining warmth is easy so long as we have body heat. I am referring to someone being on guard at all times in case of ambush.”
Roberto looked at Terry, but she just stared back. “What?”
“You’re the leader, Sy, what do ya say we do?”
Terry sighed, and pushed her hair from her face. “He’s right. We’ll have to take turns sleeping and watchin’ Ric. In the meantime I think we should rest up and conserve our energy. I dinnae know 'bout ye two, but our squad hasn’t stopped for sleep in two days now.”
Roberto nodded. “It’s been longer for us. Shatty’s like a tank and as long as I keep powered up I’m okay. But we should get some rest, I agree.”
Terry leaned back. “Where were ye anyways?”
“We came from the west,” 'Star told her. “We entered Canada through North Dakota.”
“How the hell did ye wind up there?” Terry asked with a comical expression. “Last we seen ye was in New York!”
“Our carrier got shot down in Kansas,” Roberto explained. “Cable wanted our squads to head to Nevada to go after the Area 51 base. That’s where we got separated. He told us to head north and that they’d meet us here.”
“We have nae heard from them in a few days now,” Terry said. “Last message we got was that they were here.”
“Well we only got here in Ontario late last night,” Shatty told her.
“Ye move fast,” she muttered.
“Flew a lot of the way,” Roberto told her, a frown marring his features. “Amara had her lava tracks, too. Stole a couple of cars back in the States.”
Siryn nodded. “Us too; we came here from Buffalo. Dom’s squad was nae too far behind before they decided they wanted tah go look for X-Factor.”
Roberto nodded but did not say anything. Shatterstar just stood up to stretch. “Nightfall is approaching. We should eat before we rest.”
The other two nodded in agreement, and they pulled out a few cans of soup from their bags. Roberto frowned and looked up. “Do we just cook it inside the can?!”
Shatty nodded. “Just not directly in the flame.”
“This sucks!” Terry grumbled. “I cannae believe this is happenin’!”
The boys did not reply to that. Instead, they just heated their meals for a few minutes before they started to eat. They knew that Terry was upset -- they were as well -- but there was nothing they could do or say that would make any of them feel better. Everyone they knew was either missing or dead, and they had no where to go but hide. A large adjustment was needed for most of them, but it was a little different for Shatterstar; he had done the same thing for two years on his home world when he first escaped the pens -- and he was just reliving that all over again. It was hell then, and it was now too.
They were just finishing up their soup when a comm link came to life.
“This is Beta, is anyone out there copyin’?”
Terry beamed and grabbed the device. “Cannonball, that ye?”
“Siryn! We’ve been tryin’ tah reach y’all foah hours! We heard some transmissions between y’all and Delta awhile back and it’s been quiet since,” he paused. “Is everyone all right?”
She took a shaky breath. “Uh…no, they’re not. Delta was ambushed and they lost Magma.”
“Ah’m sorry,” he said in a low voice. “Ah’m sorry, Sunspot.”
Bobby just dropped his gaze to the ground and said nothing, so Terry quickly continued. “Our team got hit with a trap and Feral’s dead. Ric’s in serious condition, we’re not sure how’s he’s holdin’ up.”
“Mercy,” Sam sighed. “This is a nightmare.”
“Tell me about it,” the red head muttered. “We’re stuck in a cave. Shatty killed a freakin’ bear.”
“Dom’s laughin’ at ya, but Ah told her it’s not funny,” Sam groaned, and it actually made Roberto snort. “Look, we just wanted to let y’all know that we found X-Factor.”
“And?”
“They’re gone,” he whispered. “We found Rahne and Lorna dead. But we can’t find Jamie, Guido, and Havok. They were probably taken, we think.”
“Oh my Lord,” Terry breathed. “So that’s it then? X-Factor and the X-Men were both taken out?”
“We think so,” he replied. “HYDRA’s completely taken over New York. There’s no one left there.”
“I cannae believe it,” she replied. “If we had nae been on missions…we coulda been dead too.”
“Yeah well either way they’re after us, Sy,” Sam declared. “And it ain’t doin’ us no good bein’ split up either. All y’all better stick together until we get up there.”
“Where are ye now?”
“Minnesota,” Sam told her. “We just got here, so hopefully we’ll be near the border by sunrise. We don’t have a vehicle at the moment, unfortunately.”
“Have any of ye heard from Alpha Squad yet?” she questioned. “There’s been no sign of them up here.”
Sam cleared his throat nervously. “No, we haven’t. Startin’ to worry though, ya know? Ah haven’t heard from Meltdown in days.”
“I know,” she whispered, thinking of her own boyfriend. “I hope they’re all right.”
“Ah’m sure Cable’s takin’ care of ‘em,” he sounded hopeful. “Foah the time bein’ though y’all just worry about takin’ care of each other and Ric too, ya hear? Dom, Warpath, and Ah are all fine.”
“We don’t have tah worry about ye,” Terry smiled. “Ye all have hard heads.”
“Very funny,” he chuckled. “But just take care, all right? Be safe.”
“Ye too,” she whispered. “Charlie out.”
“Beta out.”
Terry looked up at the boys. “I cannae believe they’re still missin’.”
Roberto just stood and stretched. “I gotta take a leak; my teeth are floatin’, amigos.”
'Star nodded. “Be careful.”
“I will,” he replied. “Then what do ya say we get some shut eye, huh? I’ll take first watch if you want.”
Siryn looked at the warrior before glancing back up at the Brazilian. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
He looked around. “Well…I dunno how well we’re gonna sleep on this freakin’ ground anyways.”
Shatty stood and took one of the two blankets off of Rictor. “We'll use these ones to cover the ground, and we'll share the rest.”
“It’s small…” she muttered. “I dinnae even know if it’ll cover us all.”
“Guess we’re cuddling,” Roberto tried to joke, but it fell flat. “Whatever. We’ll have to grin and bear with it.”
'Star nodded. “There's no sense in complaining about it. We either do it or freeze.”
Roberto sighed. “Alrighty, I’ll be back then. You guys get some shut eye.”
They nodded in reply as he carefully looked around before stepping outside. Terry moved her blanket to Ric’s other side and got settled in next to him. Shatterstar took his swords off of his back and ran his fingers down them as he looked toward the entrance of the cave; he did not feel right taking them off, but he knew he would not sleep optimally with them on. Sighing, he placed them down directly beside his place of slumber before carefully climbing under the blanket with Julio. Before laying down he opened up the Mexican’s jacket and placed a hand on his skin; he was still a little cool, but his colour was coming back to normal.
“Tell me the truth. Is he gonna be okay?” Terry’s voice sounded, breaking Shatty from his thoughts.
The warrior just looked down at his friend. “I don’t know.”
She did not move her gaze away from Shatterstar as he lay down next to Ric and wrapped an arm around his waist. “What can we do for him?”
'Star just tightened his hold and tried to close his eyes. “Protect him.”
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